Cruising the Viera Wetlands, Part 4

To wrap up the Viera trip I will include a few extra shots of birds and last minute snaps.

There was another Moorhen family hanging to the edges of the cells with even younger chicks in tow.



The Boat-tailed Grackles were browsing the edges of almost every cell but they really seemed to like the lily pads.



However, they also hung out in the reeds.



We were wrapping up our tour of the wetlands so I decided to make the most of my IS lens test and jumped out of the car to get some test shots of other things besides birds. Since I was close to the Grackles and lilies, why not?



I didn't even notice until I got home and looked at the shots that this excellent metallic green bee was in one shot. By the way, if you drag these images to your desktop you will be able to view the images at twice the size seen here.



I was really impressed with the result from the IS with this Duck Potato flower.



Finally, time to chase dragonflies! There were skittish versions in blue...



...and red!



Despite the copious swarms of bugs, we had a great time and came home with a bunch of great photos. Next trip will be in the Winter when the mosquitoes are few and the ducks are plentiful.

Kissing Waxwings and an Awaited Return

I left the office before dark, for once, and drove across the street to Lake Lily to see if the Limpkin were still working on a new brood. I didn't see them at all and there are still no snail eggs on the reeds. Perhaps they decided to find a better food source.

I did hear some Waxwings back near the train tracks so I checked them out instead.

A small flock of Waxwings were in the treetops and some of the birds began performing their 'kissing' high above me. I have seen this a couple years ago and I find it interesting to watch. Sometimes they exchange food back and forth. A search on the internet reveals a more detailed explanation.

Ornithologist, Thomas Sadler Roberts wrote "When resting, the members of a flock are apt to sit closely snuggled together in a row, and at times may touch bills with their neighbors, first on one side, then on the other, in a manner suggesting kissing. Even more surprising, they may be seen to pass some tidbit, a ripe berry most likely, from one to another all along the line and then back again several times in succession without any bird being impolite enough to eat it."

Here, a pair starts to cozy up to one another.



Then begin wondering which cheek to kiss.



Smack!



Nice to see such love in the world. But wait! What is that sound? "Weeep! Weep!"

Great-crested Flycatchers are back! But where is he? Hard to see through these newly emerging leaves of Spring. Ah, he came to me, finally.



I LOVE to hear these birds calling.



Now we need to see if any find our bird boxes at Lake Lotus.

Limpkins Are Setting Up House

I was wondering if the Limpkin Family would return to try and start a new generation over at Lake Lily this year as they did last year. I wandered over to the lake a few days ago and was kind of dismayed that the reeds were devoid of Apple Snail eggs. THey were everywhere a year ago signaling good feeding for the Limpkins. There was no sign of the birds, either.

As I left work the following night, however, I heard the distinctive call of a Limpkin out in the dark next to the lake.

Dropping by a couple of days later, I found the pair copulating near the lake's edge and a bit later they retreated into the reeds to spruce up what appears to be the new nest site.



Now to wait for the chicks!